Life on Planet Earth on Being Stuck

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Getting Stuck Stinks

Author

Keywords

Being Stuck

Scripture

Jonah 1:17-2:10, Jonah 2:2, Psalm 40:1-3, Luke 15:17-18, Exodus 14:13-14, Acts 16:25-34

Timothy Cipriani’s idea was simple. He would lower himself into the pizza restaurant from the ventilation duct, rob the cash register, and climb back out. The plan backfired. Either he had been eating...

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The Most Confused, Anxious, & Stuck Among Us

Author

Veronica Rae Saron

Keywords

In a surprisingly honest confession, the millennial writer Veronica Rae Saron shared this interesting fact in her 2016 article for Medium: Conversation after conversation, it has become more and mor...

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Change or Die

Author

Anne Lamott

Keywords

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, Hebrews 12:11, Ezekiel 36:26, Philippians 3:13-14, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Isaiah 43:19

Why is change important? Why do we avoid it, even when it means experiencing much more pain staying stuck? Writer Ann Lammott explains: If we stay where we are, where we’re stuck, where we’re comfort...

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A Walled City

Author

Arthur McKinsey

Keywords

If you think of a problem as being like a medieval walled city, then a lot of people will attack it head-on, like a battering ram. They will storm the gates and try to smash through the defenses with ...

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Yesterday I was a Dog…

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:22-24, Galatians 6:9, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 40:1-3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 3:13-14

Some people find themselves stuck in a rut. Without challenge or new opportunities, they begin to sound like Snoopy from the Peanuts cartoons: “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll p...

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Traffic May Kill You

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Have you ever felt like a part of you was dying while sitting in traffic? Apparently, you’re not too far off. A team of German researchers found that being stuck in a traffic jam increased your chance...

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A Different Perspective on the Narcissus Myth

Author

Chuck DeGroat

Keywords

In his important book When Narcissism Comes to Church, professor and therapist Chuck DeGroat makes an important connection between shame, narcissism and addiction by looking at the myth of Narcissus. ...

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Struggling with Vision

Author

John Piper

Keywords

Right around six years into what would become a thirty-three-year ministry at Bethlehem Baptist Church, John Piper was stuck. His board wanted to enact some significant changes and he felt like he had...

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Lifting the Rock

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

One day a father decided to take his son to play at the local park. The boy quickly gravitated to the sandbox and found himself mesmerized by the colors and textures surrounding him. After a short tim...

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The Lie that Held Him Captive

Author

Craig Groeschel

Keywords

When legendary magician Harry Houdini came into a town to do his show, he often went to the local jail, gathering a crowd of people along the way. To get buzz going about his upcoming performance, he ...

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The Mule in the Well

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 40:1-3, Isaiah 43:2, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, James 1:2-4, Romans 8:28

A Louisiana farmer’s favorite mule fell into a well. After studying the situation, the farmer came to the conclusion that he couldn’t pull the mule out, so he might as well bury him. It would be the h...

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Choose Your Rut Carefully

Author

Keywords

I read somewhere that in the early days of the Alaska Highway, tractor-trailer trucks would make deep ruts in the gravel as they carried construction equipment to boomtowns up north. Someone posted th...

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Getting Unstuck with a Grand Gesture

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

In 2007, author J. K. Rowling was struggling to finish the final novel, The Deathly Hallows , in her seven-part Harry Potter series. She was feeling stressed, trying to connect the dots in a way ...

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An Unexpected Friendship

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, Psalm 34:18, Proverbs 19:11, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, Luke 6:37

Sometimes moments of forgiveness and friendship come from unexpected places. In 2018, the comedian Pete Davidson appeared on the “Weekend Update” segment of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Davidson made a ...

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Author

Shelly Miller

Keywords

Uncertainty provides rescue from being stuck in the familiar ways of life that keep us from moving forward into the purposes of God. Wandering into the wilderness of the unknown is God’s divine reorie...

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An Unexpected Friendship: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:8, James 5:16, Proverbs 19:11, Romans 12:17-21, Luke 6:27-28

Sometimes moments of forgiveness and friendship come from unexpected places. In 2018, the comedian Pete Davidson appeared on the “Weekend Update” segment of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Davidson made a ...

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How A Search for Meaning Can Lead to A Rushed Existence

Author

Jennifer Dukes Lee

Keywords

We all crave a meaningful life. This is good and holy. But in the quest for meaning, we get mixed up, turned around, and accidentally end up constantly in a hurry. We rush to grow successful businesse...

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How Transformation Happens

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:11-14, Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:1-2, Colossians 3:3-4, John 8:34-36, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Ephesians 4:22-24, Romans 8:15-16

In The Good and Beautiful God , James Bryan Smith describes a new Christian he happened to know who came to him one day feeling dejected. He was so excited to be a follower of Jesus, but he just co...

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5 Quotes on Summer

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Looking for inspiration for your summertime sermons? Here are five quotes that highlight different themes about summer. Quote 1 Comment: I love The Office , but in this short quotation...

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Image is Everything

Author

Tony Reinke

Keywords

Image

Tennis superstar Andre Agassi was only nineteen years old when he starred in a television commercial for Canon cameras. The spot featured him in all sorts of eye-grabbing poses, a spectacle on display...

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Having Your Feet Washed is Difficult

Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

John 13:1-17

I am more or less ready to wash someone’s feet, but, like Peter, I discover I am not prepared to have my feet washed. I am willing to play like I am a servant and wash the feet of someone else. When I...

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Back in Flatland

Author

Austin Fischer

Keywords

In this short excerpt, pastor and author Austin Fischer summarizes the late 19th century book Flatland as an analogy for the often-one-dimensional faith that exists our time: tIn 1884, an English sc...

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10 Great Quotes from How to Lead... by Clay Scroggins

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

How to Lead Without Being in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority came out just about a year ago, so for my timing, I'm actually a bit ahead having just finished it. It is really...

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Escaping the Maze

Author

Matt Haig

Keywords

The maze It is rare to escape a maze on the first attempt. And when we are stuck in a maze, we can’t escape by following the same path that got us lost. We escape a maze by trying new routes. We don’t...

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Review: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 1:null

My Aversion to Self-Help Books & Their Gurus but Why I Recommend This One! I am not one for “self-help” books. I know that I probably could use some more personal coaching advice, but… my habit ...

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Getting Lost, Sort Of

Author

Samuel Rodriguez

Keywords

God knows where you are and has never left you, regardless of how you may feel or how uncertain you are of where you’re going. It reminds me of when our kids were small and we visited Disneyland for t...

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Stuck in Deadline Mode

Author

Carl Honoré

Keywords

Of course, speed has a role in the workplace. A deadline can focus the mind and spur us on to perform remarkable feats. The trouble is that many of us are permanently stuck in deadline mode, leaving l...

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Reducing People to the Madness of a Single Moment

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 11:2, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5-6, Philippians 2:3-4, Luke 18:9-14, Matthew 23:1-12

In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes , Jonathan K. Dodson points out our blind-spots with respect to pride: We rarely think of ourselves as proud. I...

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Author

Nancy Ortberg

Keywords

Sometimes you just have to sit and stay in the darkness. Sit and stay when every cell in your body is telling you to move and medicate. Sit and stay, wait. Let the dark sky envelope you, because if yo...

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Sticking With One Another

Author

Thomas G. Long

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-7, Deuteronomy 31:8, Psalm 23:4, Galatians 6:2, Philippians 2:7-8, Romans 12:15, John 15:13

Robert Wuthnow told a story about a man named Jack Casey, who worked as a member of an ambulance rescue squad. When he was a child, Jack had oral surgery - five teeth pulled. The little guy was terrif...

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